EMT admits putting graphic patient pictures on the internet

HICKMAN COUNTY, Ky. - Paramedic John Snow's worked as a first responder in the Heartland for 18 years. But, now he's struggling to save his job.

Snow posted pictures of his patients on the popular Internet site MySpace. He told us why in this exclusive report. "I was working on a car" said Eugene Morris.

Nearly six years ago Morris lost a finger, "and it caught it on a fan on the radiator and it chewed it up and they had to take it off," he said.

He'll never forget that day; a cell phone picture shows Morris mangled hand of him waiting in the emergency room.

It's also the same photo that made its way to myspace. Hickman County EMT John Snow admits he did. "It didn't bother me because I gave him permission to put it there" said Morris.

I found snow on the job Friday. He agreed to talk to me in an exclusive interview. The first thing snow wanted made clear is he wished he's never posted pictures of his patients.

"In this job it's easy to let your guard down and not realizing it... I'm sorry for that" said Snow. In this small rural community someone got wind of the photos and the news spread quickly.

In his defense Snow says he took the pictures of patients' wounds when they were in the ER as a training tool. "I would never have taken the pictures of a patient while they were in my care, especially one that was dying in my care that would be a derelict of duty to treat that patient" said Snow.

Snow also showed me an EMT book, to point out the pictures in here training manual don't compare to what he put on the Internet.

What about John Snows future here as an EMT? "I've been counseled by my director and were still waiting to hear the results of the investigation by the state" said Snow.

Although, fellow EMT Eugene Morris is standing by him; Snow could lose a whole lot more than just the respect of the people in his community, his whole career as it hangs in the balance.

The pictures in question are no longer on the Internet.

The Hickman County EMS department has a new policy; if an emergency responder takes photos of a patient or injury they will be fired.

Jasmine Adams

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